Financial planning for young adults ‘not a straight line’

Financial planning for young adults isn’t a straight line, said an advisor who works with multigenerational clients.

Holly Mazzocca is a wealth advisor and principal at Bartlett Wealth Management in Cincinnati.

“For our younger adults, financial planning isn’t a straight line. You’re not going to march straight up the hill and then march straight down the other side,” she told InsuranceNewsNet. “It’s more like a winding road.”

Young adults are more likely than those of older generations to take some time away from the workplace or to switch jobs, Mazzocca said.

“For our younger clients, it's about building a plan that's very flexible, where there are plenty of opportunities for change. What if someone wants to take time off to care for their parents or their children? What if someone wants to start their own business? How do they have enough flexibility in their plan to be able to accomplish that?”

Mazzocca said her firm’s mantra is “there's complexity in the analysis, simplicity in the results.”

“That’s what I think most of our clients are craving,” she said. “They simply don’t have the time or the bandwidth to solve all their financial problems on their own. How should they finance the buy-in and buy a business? How do they transition the family business from their dad down to the children? That’s where our team comes into play, to provide that game plan and that guidebook.”

Mazzocca’s advice for any advisor who wants to serve younger clients is “to create an accessible service offering.”

She said her firm offers some solutions that charge a fee up front to create an initial plan, followed by a subscription fee as clients need more work. “That seems to work out for a lot of our clients. The next generation is much more comfortable with subscription models. So instead of getting one big bill once a year, they are charged something smaller each month.”

Flexibility is another requirement to serve young adults, Mazzocca said.

“Having flexibility in what hours you can be available to accommodate their work schedules, being willing to engage in nontraditional communication methods,” she said. “Can you do short, 30-minute check-in calls or Zoom meetings instead of always having a long, preplanned meeting?”

Mazzocca said her firm wants to help its young clients get off to a solid financial start and continue working with them long-term.

“We’re always looking to the future,” she said. “How do we improve the technological experience for our clients and how do we serve them with a team that is going to feel comfortable for them? We’ve been building a diverse team, a multigenerational team and a team with different expertise areas. I have found we've found great success in that we can really relate to our clients.”

Susan Rupe is managing editor for InsuranceNewsNet. She formerly served as communications director for an insurance agents' association and was an award-winning newspaper reporter and editor. Contact her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @INNsusan.

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